The Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers are playing on the NBA preseason schedule and the game is live from NBATV at 7 pm ET from the Wells Fargo Center as LeBron James and the team tries to recover from a loss to the Hawks.
The Cavs had a starting lineup against the Hawks without Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert and Kevin Love, as those players are dealing with injuries. James started the game along with Mo Williams, James Jones, JR Smith and Timofey Mozgov and the team will likely not have the same group against the Sixers. James and some other players will be sitting out after playing back to back and Irving still is not yet ready to play while rehabbing from knee surgery.
Kevin Love sat out the first game, as he is coming back from shoulder surgery from the playoffs. Love is expected to be ready for the start of the season, but he may not play much or at all depending on how he is doping as he comes back from the injury. Shumpert comes in after having wrist surgery and he will be out for a few months for the Cavs and the team is hoping that he can return healthy once the timetable for his injury gets closer.
Irving could be out for another month or two, but the Cavs did sign Mo Williams and he can be a solid starting option for the team until Irving can return. The biggest question for the Cavaliers is whether Tristan Thompson will show up, as he has not yet agreed to a new contract. Thompson let the deadline for his qualifying offer pass and so far the two sides do not appear closer to reaching a deal.
Thompson and the Cavaliers have been working on a deal all summer and after reports that Thompson wanted a max deal, other reports came out that he would accept a shorter term deal. That deal would pay him around $15 million per season and the Cavs have not yet offered a deal in that range. ESPN.com reporter Brian Windhorst said that Thompson's holdout could extend into the season and that he would not be surprised if he sat out leading into the regular season.
The Cavaliers lost to the Hawks in the first game of the preseason, but the team is not worried about that, as they are more concerned about having everyone healthy for the season. Smith led the team with 15 points and James had a solid game while playing limited minutes. Smith played 22 minutes in the game and the Sixers come in after losing to the Wizards in their first preseason game this year.
Check here for the NBA preseason live coverage.
Check here for the score, updates, stats and play-by-play for the game.
